[ad_1]
Full responsibility for a possible worsening of the situation in the Black Sea region will lie with the United States, Colonel Sergei Rudskoi, head of the General Directorate of Russian Army Operations, said on Friday. He warns against the tense situation in the Black Sea region, referring to the intensification of NATO reconnaissance activities near the borders of the Russian Federation on the Crimean peninsula.
“All responsibility in the event of a possible escalation of the situation in the region will lie entirely with the United States and its NATO allies,” the Russian general insisted at a press conference in Moscow, reports TASS, according to Agerpres.
Rudskoi said foreign reconnaissance planes had stepped up their patrol operations in the Black Sea region by 40 percent this year.
Regarding aerial reconnaissance operations near the Crimean peninsula, he said that “compared to September last year, their incidence has increased by 61%.”
“On September 4 alone, there were five foreign reconnaissance planes simultaneously over the Black Sea,” General Rudskoi said, adding that they were only 15 kilometers from the Russian border.
Moscow is not satisfied with the fact that, in addition to NATO reconnaissance aircraft, US strategic bombers are also operating in the Black Sea area, according to the Russian general, who claims that US strategic bombers B-52 Stratofortress simulated during exercises carried out in August. -September air strikes against Russia.
Thus, he said, on August 28, September 4 and 14, American B-52 Stratofortress bombers simulated the use of cruise missiles over the waters of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov and the application of hits against targets in the territory. of the Southern Military District. Russia. During these flights, American planes approached the Russian border at a distance of up to 11 kilometers, Rudskoi was quoted as saying by TASS.
“The Russian Defense Ministry has always been in favor of a course aimed at building a constructive dialogue with NATO and other countries,” said the representative of the Russian army general staff, arguing that Russia has changed its main stage of maneuvers’ Caucasus-2020 ‘deep inside the country to show that these exercises are not directed against any country.
“In bilateral contacts with the United States and the North Atlantic Alliance, we have repeatedly initiated discussions on preventing incidents in the military and have proposed specific measures to reduce dangerous military activities along the Russia-NATO line of contact. Our proposals were not understood, “General Rudskoi said at a press conference.
For its part, the United States has repeatedly denounced the ‘dangerous and unprofessional’ maneuvers of Russian crews during interceptions of their aircraft on patrol missions over the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, warning that such incidents increase the possibility of a collision. aerial.
Russia’s relations with NATO and the United States especially deteriorated in 2014 after Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine and its role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Since then, the West has imposed sanctions on Russia and denounced Moscow’s vindictive policy.
